Fellow Wine Lovers,
Another week passes and another chapter of ‘Oribble ‘Istories is written. In Italy, the Government found itself in hot water with the EU rejecting its budget for a second time, saying that Italy was “sleepwalking into instability”. As an impartial observer, I couldn’t help but wonder if the EU actually knew anything about Italy. Since they’ve had sixty six governments since 1945, I’d say their natural position was instability!
In the US, Trumpolina has managed to continue his glorious run of balanced, well thought out statements in a stately and presidential manner. He’s accused the judiciary of being biased against his policies, calling the 9th circuit (Alaska, Arizona & California) a complete and total disaster. There were no chants of “lock her up, lock her up” on the Ivanka email front as, apparently, it’s completely different this time! Finally, he undermined his intelligence (if ‘twere possible) with the tweet “Brutal and Extended Cold Blast could shatter ALL RECORDS – Whatever happened to Global Warming?” Never let normal wintry weather get in the way of an agenda, eh?
Here in the UK, the week started with the alarming discovery that the promised 48 letters never arrived. We don’t know if Andrew Stephenson MP spending the day with the postman in Barnoldswick is significant but did note his comment “…delivering letters and parcels, six days a week, in all weathers.” Lord Snooty would only comment that his letter had most definitely been delivered, we couldn’t afford to ask Boris for a comment, he was charging about $1000 a minute. As an aside, we’ve discovered there’s a Doom Metal band from Japan called Boris.
Theresa May, meanwhile, has been backwards and forwards to Brussels more times than a Eurostar driver, finally securing a daft/draft (delete as suits) agreement with the EU which appears to mean we can talk about trade now. The process seems to have gone on almost forever, though it is in fact only 881 days, and many times along the way we’ve had questions that remain unanswered. If not this, what do they all normally do? I mean this is a once in a lifetime renegotiation so what does the machinery of government normally do if they’re not doing this?
In other European news, a driver in Germany has lost his licence after being caught speeding having passed his test a mere 48 minutes before. The Leaning Tower of Pisa is leaning less than it used to, which is a good thing if you’ve spent £200 million with that as the sole aim.
Finally, some good news: Noel Edmonds has promised to retire from the telly if he wins I’m A Celebrity. So there you go folks, give him loads of bush-tuckers but let’s make sure he does win.
News reaches us that, whilst they encourage, hector, or bully us all to drink less, wine consumption at government events has gone up 20 percent in the last 12 months. Do as I say, not as I do.
And finally, sent out into the chilly night on Wednesday, filled with Champagne and cake, were 12 scholars eager for vinous adventure after completing successfully 6 weeks of Wine School. If you would like to join them in such scholarliness, then why not come along to our next edition?
Wine School
We’ve attached details of the course but, put simply, if you have an interest in wine but have never really got round to learning more about it, this is the course for you.
It starts on Wednesday 6th February and wraps up 7 weeks later (we take a break for half term) and costs £150 per person. It’s a great way to return to the fold should you have a dry January and is certainly better than anything on telly on Wednesdays in February – if that doesn’t sell tickets I don’t know what will!
To sign up, reply to this email, give us a call on 020 8944 5224 or pop in and see us. The course we’ve just finished was oversubscribed, just saying….
Tasting This Weekend
Personally, I’m not waiting till February for a glass of wine, so thought we should continue in our long established tradition of opening something for the weekend.
Wearing the white hat will be Las 30 Del Cuadrado ‘Cepas Viejas’ 2016 (£20.49) a rare and rather special wine from Sanlucar de Barrameda in Spain, more usually renowned for Manzanilla sherry. The grapes are grown in a special part of the vineyard on 70 year old vines. The wine itself is made with natural yeasts forming a spontaneous fermentation (how old school is that?). The wine has stunning tropical fruit notes with a lovely herby note, nutty and fresh with a really long finish. An absolutely stunning partner to Fritura Mixta or, failing that good old fish and chips.
Wearing the red buff will be Dievole Chianti Classico 2015 (£21.99) an estate that was established, according to the records, on 10th May 1090 when Rodolfino and Vinizio paid two Capons, three loaves of bread and 6 silver Lucca denari for the land. Seems like a bargain to me, not too far from Siena for a night out and capable of producing cracking Chianti like this. Complex to taste, yet simple to enjoy and certainly spot on with some partridge.
So that’s it for us for now, come in and marvel at how we manage to keep the shop so warn when it’s so cold outside and reach for a glass of something tasty!